


Too Bad To Be True

by xhaltsalute



Category: The Phantom Stallion Series - Terri Farley
Genre: Horses, Nightmare, Panic Attack, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sam's Accident
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23506015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xhaltsalute/pseuds/xhaltsalute
Summary: Jake awakens from a nightmare.
Kudos: 9





	Too Bad To Be True

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in one go, so sorry that it's an unorganized mess! I've just had the idea in my head for a long time so I wanted to get it down. I know a lot more about horses than I do about people, so this ended up being more about Jake's relationship with Witch rather than with Sam.

Jake awakens with a gasp, his body covered in a cold sweat. 

“Hey, you’re okay. It was just a dream,” Quinn murmurs, his hand resting on Jake’s shoulder. 

Jake sits up and rubs at his eyes, trying to erase the visions from his nightmare still floating around in his head. He then looks up and takes in his surroundings. 

He’s in a tent lying in his blue sleeping bag that he’s had forever. Next to Jake is Quinn, and on the other side of Quinn lies Bryan, still fast asleep.

“I need air,” Jake manages to rasp out, struggling to get his breathing back under control. 

He crawls over to the door of the tent, fumbling for the zipper. His hands are shaking so much that he can’t get ahold of the zipper enough to open the flap. 

“Here, let me help,” Quinn whispers, trying not to wake Bryan, as he reaches around Jake to unzip the tent. 

It’s the first night of the annual summer cattle drive, and a rush of cool night air washes over Jake’s face, and he closes his eyes to try as he tries once again to slow his breathing. He counts to ten before opening his eyes and looks out into the night. He can hear the lowing of cattle in the distance and see the other tents containing everyone on the cattle drive. He looks towards the tent where he knows Sam and Jen are sleeping, but everything is still. 

Jake clambers out of the tent, Quinn right behind him holding a flashlight and shoving a jacket into Jake’s hands before pulling on a sweatshirt of his own. Their boots are sitting next to the tent, and they pull them on then start to walk towards the remuda containing the horses. 

Jake sits down in the grass, not caring that the early morning dew is seeping through the sweatpants he slept in. He leans his head against the tall metal stake next to him that holds the rope running around the perimeter of the remuda. He takes in a deep shuddering breath, the first controlled breath since Quinn had woken him up from his nightmare. 

“Is the dream back?” Quinn asks as he settles down next to his younger brother, watching him out of the corner of his eye. 

Jake nods slightly, keeping his eyes on the horses in front of him. 

Most of the horses were still sleeping, too tired from the long day to notice the boys. But a few noticed their arrival, including Jake’s black mare Witch. The mare lifted her head and pricked her ears forward, then made her way over to Jake and Quinn. When she got to the edge of the remuda in front of Jake, she lowered her head and peered at him intently, almost as if she new something was wrong. 

Jake reached his hand out to stroke the mare’s cheek, then scratched her favorite spot behind her left ear. 

Quinn watched them quietly, not used to seeing the usually grumpy mare be so affectionate, and waited until his brother was ready to speak.

“It’s been over a year since I last had that dream,” Jake said quietly. “I thought I was over it.” 

Jake had returned home from his first year away at college just four days before. It was June, and he hadn’t seen Sam since the end of March when he was home for spring break. Her birthday was the week before, and he sent her a text in between studying for finals, but aside from that they hadn’t talked much. When he saw her again that morning, laughing at something Pepper had said as she helped to unload horses from the trailer, his heart did something funny in his chest. 

He never knew quite how to quantify his feelings regarding Sam. She was always there growing up, until she wasn’t. When she came back, their friendship transformed into something different, but just as strong.

Quinn and their grandfather were the only ones who knew about the dream. Quinn knew because the boys had shared a room growing up. And Grandpa knew because Quinn told him. 

The dream was always the same. Sam’s accident, over and over and over again. Every detail as fresh as it was the day it happened. Sam’s small body crashing to the desert floor, before the sound of a horse’s hoof cracking her skull. There was so much blood… Jake remembered thinking there was no way she would still have enough blood left to survive after seeing all that blood spilling across the ground. 

At eighteen, Jake knew that a thirteen year old thinking their best friend was dead and believing they were responsible was a serious trauma to overcome. Any childhood innocence he’d had died that day. Everyone was so concerned for Sam’s well-being in the first few weeks after her accident that they didn’t think about Jake, and the fact that he had suffered a trauma himself. Jake himself didn’t even realize it at the time. 

The dream started the same night as the accident, and continued almost every night after that for months on end. Jake felt bad for Quinn, who also suffered from sleepless nights due to Jake’s dream. So Jake would sneak out of the house, and would run into the night. He would run and run until he was so tired, when he got back to the house and climbing into bed, he wouldn’t dream at all. 

A year after Sam had moved to San Francisco, Mac and Luke Ely rescued Witch and Chip from Shan Stonerow. Chip was only a yearling at the time and hadn’t suffered from the cruelty that Stonerow inflicted on his horses. But Witch was almost four years old, and the spirited mare had brought out the worst in Stonerow. As the youngest of the brothers, Quinn and Jake were the only two who didn’t have horses of their own. Being next in line, Quinn was gifted Chip, the easy going, playful yearling. 

But Witch was never supposed to be anyone’s horse. She would strike out and try to bite anyone who came near her. Luke put the mare in the pasture furthest from the house, and gave his sons strict instructions that they were not to go near her. Given her impressive pedigree, Luke intended to use her as a broodmare. He would work with her to get her to the point that she could be safe to handle from the ground, but he never expected her to be a riding horse.

Jake was instantly captivated by the mare. But it wasn’t her impeccable conformation or gleaming black coat that caught his eye. He could tell her she was broken. It was a brokenness similar to the one he felt. A brokenness that comes from being forced to face a harsh reality at a young age. 

When Jake would run at night, he always ran by Witch’s pasture. At first the mare would pin her ears at the sound of his approaching footsteps, before charging towards the fence as he got closer. But Jake wouldn’t even look at her; he’d run by as if she wasn’t there. After a couple weeks, she stopped charging as he ran by, but would still pin her ears and glare. And after a few more weeks, she stopped pinning her ears back and would be standing in the corner of her pasture, waiting for him. Then one day, she ran along the fence line with him. 

After that, Jake started running laps around the pasture, and Witch would trot alongside next to him, tossing her head so her mane rustled in the breeze. 

Then, one fateful day, Bryan rode his horse past Witch’s pasture and got too close. She kicked out angrily, and managed to break the latch holding the gate to her pasture shut. The gate swung open, and the mare bolted out into the ranch yard. Everyone came running out of the barn at the sound of the commotion, and the mare bounced to a stop in between the barn and the house. Luke slowly started to walk towards the mare, but she pinned her ears and quickly began to back away. 

Jake, who had been in the house, came outside and accidentally let the screen door slam shut behind him. The mare swung her head towards the sound and locked eyes with Jake. They stared at each other, and amazingly, Witch took a step towards him. It seemed as though everyone held their breath as Witch slowly walked over to Jake. He didn’t move a muscle as the mare got close enough to lip at the hem of his shirt. 

Instead of trying to put a halter on her, Jake slowly started to walk back towards Witch’s pasture, and she followed him, staying right behind him the whole way.

Once the mare was back in her pasture, Jake stayed to hold the gate shut as Luke came up to fix the latch.

“That was pretty impressive,” Luke told his son as he examined the broken gate latch. He could see that it was badly bent from the mare’s strong kick, but if he straightened it out with a hammer it would work fine. 

Jake shrugged, and looked over towards the mare. “Sometimes when I can’t sleep I come out here,” he explained to his father. “I guess she’s just gotten used to me.”

“Here son, hold this steady,” Luke instructed Jake as he took out a small hammer to fix the latch. “Would you like to work with her? It’ll have to be when either me or Grandpa Mac is around, but given the way she responded to you today I’d say you have a better chance than anyone at getting through to that mare.”

Jake nodded swiftly, a smile breaking out across his tan face, and Luke suddenly realized that this was the first time he had seen his son smile since little Samantha Forster’s accident. 

That night, Luke called Mac and had him talk to Jake about what the best approach would be to train Witch. Jake explained how he had been running at night and the mare would follow him. 

“The next time you run,” Mac told his grandson, “close the ranch gates then let Witch out of her pasture. See if she’ll follow you.”

The next night, Jake did just that. Instead of taking the opportunity to explore the ranch yard, Witch stayed right behind Jake. 

From that moment on, they boy and horse were inseparable. Witch trusted Jake wholeheartedly, and with Mac’s help she became an outstanding ranch horse. 

Jake didn’t know what kind of person he would have become if it hadn’t been for Witch. Sam’s accident had affected him in ways he couldn’t even begin to describe, but finding a kindred spirit in Witch helped him begin to heal. 

The dream of Sam’s accident haunted Jake less and less until it stopped. Then Sam came back from San Francisco, and it was like the world shifted back into focus. They had both grown and changed in those two years apart, and things were awkward for a while as they rediscovered their roles in each other’s lives. But they were loyal to each other. They had each proven time and time again that when it came down to it, they would always stand by each other. 

The dream made sense when he had it right after the accident. But Jake wasn’t sure why it came back tonight. He hadn’t really spoken to Sam that day, other than a quick greeting that morning. He had hoped to talk to her at dinner, but she was scheduled to have the second nighthawk shift that night, so she had eaten quickly and gone to bed early. 

“What time is it?” Jake asked Quinn. 

Quinn pulled out his phone and squinted against the sudden brightness. “3:52,” he replied. “We’ve probably been out here about 15 minutes.” 

Sam’s nighthawk shift would end at 4, meaning that she’d be coming by to put her horse away any minute. 

“Let’s head back,” Jake said as he gave Witch a final pat and moved to stand up. He didn’t want to risk running into Sam.

But as Jake turned towards the tent, he heard a horse snort and the sound of hoofbeats coming from where the cattle were being held. He turned to see Sam on Strawberry, River Bend’s strawberry roan Quarter Horse mare. 

Sam pulled the mare to a halt in front of Jake and Quinn, and looked questioningly between the brothers. 

“We were just getting some air, right Jake?” Quinn stated quickly, looking pointedly at Jake. 

“Right.” Jake replied with a nod. 

“Okay…” Sam said, clearly not buying it.

“You know how hard it is sleeping on the ground, especially the first night of the cattle drive!” Quinn kept talking, with a bit too much enthusiasm.

Sam raised her eyebrows, now knowing something was definitely up.

“I was just about to put Strawberry away. Want to help me, Jake? Since you’re already up.” Sam asked, wanting to see if Jake would tell her what was going on if she gave him the chance. As she looked closer at him she could tell he was shaken by something. He looked pale, and his normally bright, mustang eyes were staring back at her solemnly. 

Jake nodded, and stepped forward to hold Strawberry’s reins while Sam dismounted.  
“You good, Jake?” Quinn asked, waiting for Jake’s nod before heading back to their tent.

“What’s up?” Sam asked, “And don’t say nothing. There’s clearly something off with you right now.” 

She busied herself with undoing the cinch and pulling her saddle from Stawberry’s back. Knowing Jake would talk in time, but not if she pushed him any more than she already had, she grabbed a hoof pick and bent to clean out the mare’s hooves. 

Sam was had just put down the last hoof when Jake finally spoke.

“I have dreams. Well, it's a recurring dream. A nightmare, really.” 

“Oh? What’s it about?” Sam asked as she set the hoof pick down and picked up a brush.

“You.”

Sam stopped brushing to look at Jake. 

“Me? Why would you have a nightmare about me?”

“It’s your accident.”

Jake turned to exchange Strawberry’s bridle for her halter, and started leading the mare towards the remuda to turn her out with the rest of the horses.

As Jake hung up the halter, he could see Sam still standing where he had left her, still frozen in place. 

He walked over to her and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, glad Quinn had brought one out for him. 

Sam looked up at him, her light brown eyes searching his. 

“I had no idea,” she whispered. 

“There was no way you could have known,” Jake replied.

“No,” she refuted with a shake of her head, “I had no idea how much my accident affected you.”

“You see, I don’t really remember it,” Sam explained. “It happened, I woke up in a hospital which was kind of scary, but then I was in San Francisco where I had all kinds of therapy. To me, I mostly associate my accident with being in San Francisco. But for you…” she trailed off and shook her head before reaching for his hand. “Cody almost burned his hand of the stove yesterday when I was boiling a pot of water and looked away for a second. I can only imagine how guilty I would feel if he got hurt on my watch. I can’t pretend to understand what you must have gone through after my accident. I’m sorry. No thirteen year old should have to go through that.”

“I’m a lot better now,” Jake reassured her. He looked down at their joined hands, hers small and pale against his. “I haven’t had the dream in years. I don’t know why it came back tonight of all nights, but I just needed some air.” 

Sam smiled softly and gently squeezed his hand. She looked up at the stars and inhaled deeply. She wasn’t wearing her hat, and the light of the moon picked up the glints of red in her auburn hair. Jake couldn’t look away from her as he reveled at how alive she was, standing right next to him. 

He noticed his heart rate was the steadiest it’d been since he’d first woken from his nightmare. 

“We have to be up in a few hours, so maybe we should get as much sleep as we can,” Sam broke the silence as she turned to meet his gaze. Jake nodded, and her hand slipped from his as they headed towards the tents.

They walked along quietly, their minds filled with thoughts that wouldn’t be spoken for a long time. Jake was thinking about how their friendship was so strong he could be vulnerable with Sam after not seeing her for months. 

And Sam’s mind was racing, thinking remembering all the instances where Jake was overprotected of her when she first came back from San Francisco. But now she was thinking about them from a different perspective. She thought nothing of putting an animal’s life before her own. But there was a moment when Jake truly believed she was dead. 

They murmured good night to each other before ducking into their respective tents. 

Sam tugged off her boots and exchanged her jeans for sweats before climbing into her sleeping bag, being as quiet as possible so she wouldn’t wake Jen. 

There was still a lot unsaid between Sam and Jake, and she knew there’d be more conversations to come. But Sam was too tired to ponder the mind of Jake Ely any more than she already had, and she drifted off to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

**Author's Note:**

> I mostly wanted to write this to explore how Sam's accident affected Jake. There's no way it didn't play a major role in his life and shape him into the person we see throughout the series.


End file.
